My 10 year old blender died. There was smoke. So now I need to replace. What do you recommend? Update post 1.

[Faith-manor]

She just went POOF. Now to be fair, I drive my blenders like rental cars 😁, and expect them to be work horses so I can't complain. It lasted a decade.

Because I use a blender so often, I don't want to run out and buy a piece of junk Wal-Mart special. Any recommendations?

I puree a LOT.

Update:

LOL, Mark, the food geek, got ALL excited about me - the woman well known for hating cooking with the fire of a thousand suns and only does it as a gift of love to family - looking at "kitcheny" things, got on goodwill auctions, found a Ninja blender, put in a minimum bid and WON it, and has a bid in on an immersion blender as well.

So I am getting both. I am trying figure out my feel feels (as my son Peter says) about that many kitchen gadgets coming in a one time. It feels like expactations! 😯

I am happy though that these are used but nearly knew appliances. Better for the environment, and our pocketbook.

Edited March 10, 2022 by Faith-manor

[prairiewindmomma]

Wait, where was the smoke? If it was a Blendtec blender, you only need a jar replacement. At least, this was our experience with our expensive blender this year. The jar was $110, but cheaper than the $700 blender.

Edited March 9, 2022 by prairiewindmomma

[mmasc]

I upgraded to this last summer and loooove it! It is used almost exclusively for smoothies. My previous blender was an Oster Beehive for many years. It just had an on/ off switch, but it started getting kind of janky with the blending. 

[Faith-manor]

5 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Wait, where was the smoke? If it was a Blendtec blender, you only need a jar replacement. At least, this was our experience with our expensive blender this year. The jar was $110, but cheaper than the $700 blender.

No, it was an oster, and the smoke came from the motor.

[Danae]

I have one of these chef-built immersion blenders and 2 quart and 4 quart measuring pitchers all from the restaurant supply store.  I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a standard blender.

[Faith-manor]

2 minutes ago, Danae said:

I have one of these chef-built immersion blenders and 2 quart and 4 quart measuring pitchers all from the restaurant supply store.  I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a standard blender.

I will check that out.

[R828]

I love my Vitamix . Got it at Costco and it’s been a workhorse. 

[Carol in Cal.]

My recommendation is to look in your Buy Nothing communities.  Kitchen appliances that are barely used pop up there a lot around here.  Especially the specialty items like vegetable juicers and such.  I got a dehydrator that way.  

[Insertcreativenamehere]

I puree food for my tube-fed son and nothing has been better than our Blendtec! 

[Tap]

A Vitamix from Costco is what I have and love! 

[Faith-manor]

5 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

My recommendation is to look in your Buy Nothing communities.  Kitchen appliances that are barely used pop up there a lot around here.  Especially the specialty items like vegetable juicers and such.  I got a dehydrator that way.  

We don't have a buy nothing community within 85 miles of here.

[strawberries]

After burning through a couple of cheap blenders we got a Ninja. It has been going strong for 9 years, if memory serves.

[kristin0713]

I love my Blendtec

[prairiewindmomma]

13 minutes ago, Insertcreativenamehere said:

I puree food for my tube-fed son and nothing has been better than our Blendtec! 

This is how we started off with ours also---kid with dysphagia. Hugs!

 

[itsheresomewhere]

22 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

My recommendation is to look in your Buy Nothing communities.  Kitchen appliances that are barely used pop up there a lot around here.  Especially the specialty items like vegetable juicers and such.  I got a dehydrator that way.  

You are lucky.  I call ours the it really should have just gone in the garbage but why not pawn it off on some else to do it group.  

[itsheresomewhere]

I have a ninja and a vitamix my neighbor gave me.  I love both and think they are equal.  

[Carol in Cal.]

10 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

You are lucky.  I call ours the it really should have just gone in the garbage but why not pawn it off on some else to do it group.  

People would develop bad reputations if they did that.  The yahoo free groups were like that, but the Buy Nothing group is very local and people proactively disclose things like, I don’t know whether it works.

[Clarita]

Vitamix. We got it on sale on Amazon.

[Terabith]

I have never owned a Vitamix, but the people whose cats held theirs hostage for 48 days love theirs, and apparently their boxes are the clear favorites among box discerning cats.  

[Hilltopmom]

Vitamix!

[Katy]

I got a refurbished vitamix from either vitamix or Amazon, I can't remember which one was cheaper. I love it.  You can make flour with the regular blade.

[Angie in VA]

Another happy VitaMix user here.

I feel like I got a refurbished one, but, honestly it's been so long, I can't recall. I know I got it in the fall of 2013. It is used most days, and sometimes as much as 3X/day. 

[Bootsie]

I never had a nice blender until a few years ago I got a Vitamix.  I was surprised how much I love it.  I have a low-end Vitamix with a dial.  It works well and is so easy to clean.  It is noisy but I can stand the noise for a minute.  

[mathnerd]

Vitamix over 20 years and don’t even want to upgrade it because it keeps chugging along. I use it really heavily for heavy duty stuff including grinding flours etc.

[Corraleno]

My first Vitamix is at least 15 years old and is currently in DS's apartment, being used daily for giant protein smoothies full of frozen fruit. The one I currently have is 3 years old and is used daily for smoothies, sorbets from frozen fruit, pureed soups, etc. I bought both from Costco, they are the basic models, not the higher end bells-&-whistles models, and they are absolute workhorses. 

[Faith-manor]

4 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

My first Vitamix is at least 15 years old and is currently in DS's apartment, being used daily for giant protein smoothies full of frozen fruit. The one I currently have is 3 years old and is used daily for smoothies, sorbets from frozen fruit, pureed soups, etc. I bought both from Costco, they are the basic models, not the higher end bells-&-whistles models, and they are absolute workhorses. 

I am definitely going to take a look at these options. Right now I am going to run down to my mom's and grab her blender and use it while she is in France so I don't have to make a hasty decision or get something low quality to hold me over.

[Grace Hopper]

2 hours ago, Danae said:

I have one of these chef-built immersion blenders and 2 quart and 4 quart measuring pitchers all from the restaurant supply store.  I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a standard blender.

I use my Braun immersion blender and my bullet blender. My regular (like quart pitcher top) blender sat gathering dust. 
 

Your needs may differ but if I could only choose one, it would be the immersion blender. Love it. 

[Faith-manor]

4 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

I use my Braun immersion blender and my bullet blender. My regular (like quart pitcher top) blender sat gathering dust. 
 

Your needs may differ but if I could only choose one, it would be the immersion blender. Love it. 

I was actually looking at a vitamin immersion because the idea of just doing it in the cooking pan, and not having to transfer back and forth is appealing. I use it to blend tomatoes so much for making pasta sauce, enchilada sauce, chili, etc. So I am definitely checking it out.

[Corraleno]

27 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

I am definitely going to take a look at these options. Right now I am going to run down to my mom's and grab her blender and use it while she is in France so I don't have to make a hasty decision or get something low quality to hold me over.

This is the current base model (if you have a Costco membership, they have it for the same price but it comes with more accessories). It has an on-off switch, a speed dial, and a pulse button, super simple (it's like the Speed Queen of blenders). If you want it to fit under upper cabinets, you want the "low profile" container.

Vitamix is still owned by the same family that developed the blender in the 1930s, and they're still made in Cleveland Ohio. Here's the 1937 original:

 

[Spy Car]

8 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

I use my Braun immersion blender and my bullet blender. My regular (like quart pitcher top) blender sat gathering dust. 
 

Your needs may differ but if I could only choose one, it would be the immersion blender. Love it. 

Same as me.

No fancy Bendtec or Vitamix.

Instead we have a Braun immersion blender (one of Mrs Spy Car's pre-Covid thrift store finds) and a Ninja IQ bullet-style blender we purchased new. I don't feel the pull for anything else myself.

Bill

[Faith-manor]

14 minutes ago, Spy Car said:

Same as me.

No fancy Bendtec or Vitamix.

Instead we have a Braun immersion blender (one of Mrs Spy Car's pre-Covid thrift store finds) and a Ninja IQ bullet-style blender we purchased new. I don't feel the pull for anything else myself.

Bill

Bill, how long had your Bruan lasted? I want to invest in something that lasts more than two years. Mark and I very tired of crappy appliances!

Edited March 9, 2022 by Faith-manor

[Corraleno]

4 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

I was actually looking at a vitamin immersion because the idea of just doing it in the cooking pan, and not having to transfer back and forth is appealing. I use it to blend tomatoes so much for making pasta sauce, enchilada sauce, chili, etc. So I am definitely checking it out.

If you mainly need it for sauces and soups, an immersion blender is probably the way to go. I have a Cuisinart immersion blender and I generally use that for soups and sauces, because it's certainly easier than ladling into a blender and then pouring it back in the pot. But IME the texture is quite different with an immersion blender vs a vitamix, and if you want to do anything with frozen fruit (smoothie, sorbet, "nice cream," etc.), an immersion blender isn't going to do that. What I love about the Vitamix is that I can throw in fresh and frozen fruit, chia and flax seeds, mixed greens, plant milk, protein powder, and ice cubes, and the texture is like velvet — it really is different than what you get from a "regular" blender (like Oster or similar; I assume Blendtec is equivalent to Vitamix). If you want something that also makes incredibly smooth hummus, nut butters, and smoothies, and can also grind flour from grains, dried peas and beans, etc., then a Vitamix (or Blendtec) is the way to go, but if you're not going to be doing those things and just want something to blend soups and sauces, then I would save the money and go with an immersion blender.

[Spy Car]

12 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

Bill, how long had your Bruan lasted? I want to invest in something that lasts more than two years. Mark and I very tired of crappy appliances!

Longer than I can remember. The white portions of the plastic have yellowed, it is that old.

Still works great.

And I'd much rather puree hot soups (and the like) in a pot, vs transferring hot contents to a blender.

I've messed up such transfers with hot soups in the past and it is easy to get burned or to make a big mess.

My one tip is to make sure to rinse the bottom of the immersion blender straight away after use so that nothing drys on the shaft.

Bill

[Clarita]

FWIW my husband bought the Vitamix blender. Then at the next sale bought the Vitamix immersion blender. Both were unexpected game-changers in our house. 

[catz]

2 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

I was actually looking at a vitamin immersion because the idea of just doing it in the cooking pan, and not having to transfer back and forth is appealing. I use it to blend tomatoes so much for making pasta sauce, enchilada sauce, chili, etc. So I am definitely checking it out.

Oh, if this is what you are using a blender for primarily HIGHLY recommend the immersion.  I got a not even so expensive cuisinart one years ago and it's still going strong.  Perfect for pureering soups, sauces, salad dressings.  We do some smoothies and malts, etc with it at times too.  I would make like pureed soups SO much less if I didn't have the immersion blender.  

Oh we have a cuisinart smart stick, and it's at least 6 years old.  We use it 4-6 times a week.  I used it twice today (chipotle chicken marinade last) and my teen was making a late night malt with it last night.  😂  I actually want to order a couple more tall cups for it now that I think about it.  I have an expensive blender that mostly sits on a shelf.

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/cuisinart-smart-stick-variable-speed-hand-blender/?catalogId=79&sku=9024690&cm_ven=PLA&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=Electrics > Blenders&region_id=765030&cm_ite=9024690_14571727863&gclid=CjwKCAiAvaGRBhBlEiwAiY-yMEMqN_kriyKmx-WioAp7L_NfjR8teiOmusd-IrihgtcIZ4GQF6EEBhoCAtUQAvD_BwE

Edited March 10, 2022 by catz

[Spy Car]

2 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

I was actually looking at a vitamin immersion because the idea of just doing it in the cooking pan, and not having to transfer back and forth is appealing. I use it to blend tomatoes so much for making pasta sauce, enchilada sauce, chili, etc. So I am definitely checking it out.

One more tip. Keep the bottom of the blender wedded to the bottom of the pan (or experiment with the "limits" blending something that's unlikely to stain) as "whisking" ingredients about can send liquids flying.

You'll get the touch. Or give the job to rocket man.

How is Mark doing, anyway? Hopefully recuperating in a nice easy chair.

Bill

 

 

[Faith-manor]

2 minutes ago, Spy Car said:

One more tip. Keep the bottom of the blender wedded to the bottom of the pan (or experiment with the "limits" blending something that's unlikely to stain) as "whisking" ingredients about can send liquids flying.

You'll get the touch. Or give the job to rocket man.

How is Mark doing, anyway? Hopefully recuperating in a nice easy chair.

Bill

 

 

He is walking. Sore but walking. So far we still are on waiting lists for the ortho. Rocket man is a hard man to keep down! The bruising is ridiculous, and some of it feels very "knotty". His primary is not interested in seeing him. Grrrr....so we ice, he soaks in the tub, and he gently uses it. I think he is doing okay, but without medical advice it is hard to know.

Thank you for asking!

[Grace Hopper]

3 hours ago, Spy Car said:

Longer than I can remember. The white portions of the plastic have yellowed, it is that old.

Still works great.

And I'd much rather puree hot soups (and the like) in a pot, vs transferring hot contents to a blender.

I've messed up such transfers with hot soups in the past and it is easy to get burned or to make a big mess.

My one tip is to make sure to rinse the bottom of the immersion blender straight away after use so that nothing drys on the shaft.

Bill

I agree with all of this. I have both burned myself and once ended up with soup on the ceiling messing with transferring from pot to blender (I am admitting a clumsy cook to begin with).

I’ve had my Braun at least 15 years, and honestly think closer to 20 but can’t remember exactly when I got it. 
 

And washing it right away is definitely best. Also, it came with a little tool to install/remove various blades. Be sure to use that! 

[Danae]

5 hours ago, Corraleno said:

and if you want to do anything with frozen fruit (smoothie, sorbet, "nice cream," etc.), an immersion blender isn't going to do that.

Mine makes a perfectly smooth purée from frozen fruit.  We use it for smoothies all the time. Slushes from ice cubes too.  You just have to make sure you don’t get a wimpy immersion blender.

[Lisa]

I have a Ninja and love it.

[Clarita]

5 hours ago, Spy Car said:

One more tip. Keep the bottom of the blender wedded to the bottom of the pan (or experiment with the "limits" blending something that's unlikely to stain) as "whisking" ingredients about can send liquids flying.

I swear I'm not a Vitamix salesman but one difference between it and my old immersion blender (which I loved and never thought I needed anything else), is it ramps up to speed (the old one just goes at the speed set), and after some initial pulses it actually circulates the puree. (If the soup is more liquid initial pulses are not even necessary, if you are pureeing mashed potatoes, you need a few pulses to make the potato less chunky first.)

[Faith-manor]

Given that discretionary money is more limited than I would like due to a rather large and unexpected college bill for our youngest (which should be contested big time, but at the moment with 50 days to go to commencement, we are just paying in order to get through and then may go after the school once he has his diploma), the whole Vitamix or anything in that price range is not an option. Though there are aspects of the whole shebang that sound wonderful, that will be an expenditure for another day. I will probably go with an affordable immersion for now because it will do what I need at the moment, getting me through soup and sauce season because by mid play we will be in the thrall of grilling season and the blender will be rarely used. Y'all have convinced Mark that he wants a Vitamin in the future! So if I don't get a sewing machine replacement next year, I am blaming the Hive! 😁

Edited March 10, 2022 by Faith-manor

[Faith-manor]

Update up top!